Abraham to Father Many Nations

1And Abram was a son of ninety years and nine years, and YHWH appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am El-Shaddai;† walk before Me and be blameless. 2And I will make My covenant between Me and between you, and I will multiply you greatly, greatly.”

3And Abram fell on his face, and God spoke with him, saying, 4“As for me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. 5And your name shall no longer be called Abram,† and your name shall be Abraham;† for I have made you a father of many nations.†

6I will make you fruitful—greatly, greatly—and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come out from you.

7And I will establish My covenant between Me and between you and between your seed after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you, and to your seed after you.

8And I give to you and to your seed after you the land in which you are a sojourner—all the land of Canaan—as an everlasting possession. And I will be their God.”

The Covenant of Circumcision

9And God said to Abraham, “And as for you, you shall keep My covenant—you and your seed after you, throughout their generations. 10This is My covenant, which you⁺ shall keep between Me, and between you⁺, and between your seed after you: Every male child among you⁺ shall be circumcised. 11And you⁺ shall be circumcised in the flesh of your⁺ foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and between you⁺.

12And a son of eight days among you⁺ shall be circumcised—every male child in your⁺ generations who is born in your house or bought with silver from any son of a foreigner who is not of your seed. 13And he must surely be circumcised—he who is born in your house, or he who is bought with your silver. And My covenant shall be in your⁺ flesh for an everlasting covenant.

14And the uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, the soul of that one shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”

15And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah is her name.† 16And I will bless her, and also I have given to you a son by her. And I have blessed her, and she has become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.”

17And Abraham fell on his face, and he laughed, and he said in his heart, “To a son of a hundred years shall a child be born? Or shall Sarah, a daughter of ninety years, bear a child?” 18And Abraham said to God, “O that Ishmael might live before You!”

19And God said, “Sarah your wife surely will bear to you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac.† And I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his seed after him. 20And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him and I will make him fruitful and will multiply him greatly, greatly. Two and ten princes He shall beget, and I will make him into a great nation. 21And I will establish My covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this appointed time in the next year.”

22And He finished speaking with him, and God went up from Abraham.

23And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all who were born in his house, and all who were bought with his silver—every male among the men in the house of Abraham—and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins on that very day, as God had spoken with him.

24And Abraham was a son of ninety-nine years when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 25And Ishmael his son was a son of three and ten years when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. 26And on that very day Abraham was circumcised, and Ishmael his son, 27and all the men of his house—born in the house or bought with silver from a son of a foreigner—were circumcised with him.